Railway signal torpedo



F. BUTCHER.

RAILWAY SIGNAL TORPEDO.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2|, I921.

Patented Jan. 17, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1'.

F. BUTCHER.

RAILWAY SI'GNAL TORPEDO. APPLICATION FILED mus 21.1921.

Patented Jan. 17, 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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ANEA SIG-NOR TO CENTRAL RAILXVAY rlNrTS ZLVANIA, A CORPORATION OE NEW BAILWVBX' SIGNAL TOB'EEDO.

Application fled June 21,

T 0 (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l. citizen of the 'e nited sail les. in the munty o; tllep'hen o f Pennsyl rniu. have invented cer and useful ln'iproveinents in 'lorpedoes. of whii-h the following; is a specification. reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relate to improvements in railway signal torpedoes. and more particularly to a torpe lo wherein the explosive is vontained within a "rapper and is then pro vided with an opendeal protecting casing. and a rail-engaging or attaching member.

ln the torpedo oi my ii vention, the explosive wrapper and eon -s are lerably made of paper or fibre and the rail-attachinn member is of suitable metal. The vrosssectional area of the explosive and w "a per is approximately the same as the (FOSS-6* tional area ot' the interior of the protective casing, and tor this reason the Xplosive and its covering rapper tightly in the ca"- ing. and more especially so because the railengaging' member is also carried within the easing.

In manufacturing a torpedo ot the nature described above. I have found that eonsiderable trouble and time is expended in fitting; the explosive to the casing, because the between the v0 is very snug. To overeome this objection to a torpedo of this -on struction. l have invented and employ a novel construction hereinafter to be described.

The object oi my invention is to provide a novel means of wrapping a railway signal torpedo explosive so as to enable its being easily inserted within a snugly fitting case.

Another object or" my invention is to provide a railway signal torpedo comprising a wrapped explosive and a rail-engaging member carried within a case of a novel construction. so that it will be cheap of manufacture.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a railway signal torpedo comprising; a wrapped torpedo and rail-engaging member carried in a ease. the torpedo being of a novel construction whereby when the explosive, together with its wrapper and railengaging member, are inserted in the case, the case will be fiat upon its bottom.

es. resu.

S ecification of Letters Eatent,

Patented J an. 17, 1922.

Serial ll'o. 479,238.

ihher and further objects of my invenwi 1 appear in the following specifidrawings in which ure 1 is a perspective View of a torpedo ng my invention.

is a perspective view of the several parts of my improved torpedo, the parts beumsho-wn in unassen'ibled relation.

1'. is an exaggera'ed longitudinal veri etional view o't Fig. l.

7 's an exaggerated transverse verti- =-a l se' tionel viev; taken on the line 44 o't l 5 is a perspective view of a torpedo embodying a modified form of the explosive tablet.

3 a perspective view showing the tied form of explosive tablet having a roncaved lower tace.

' is an enlar 'e'd transverse vertical view of a torpedo embodying the the explosive tablet.

perspective view showlongitudinal folds in the extended the wrapper as applied to the core ioi'm ol? the explosive tablet. 'errinn' now to the drawings in which parts are designated by similar refernumerals throughout the specification and drawings. l represents an explosive, )Pterabl v of tablet form and carried withn the several i: ls 2 ot a paper or fiber vrapping 3, whini has the outwardly exendi o ends 4 and 5 beyond the explosive.

safeguard against dampness penetrat- =.o the explosive 1 and thereby injuring same, the wrapper 3 is coated on its inner with a water-proofing cement 6, or its equivalent. 7

ills is clearly seen in Figs. 2 and i, I have crimp-ed or mashed inwardly the side walls 7 of the extending ends l and 5 of the wrapperto make longitudinal folds 8. whereby these extended ends are made of less width than the explosive 1.

The open ended case 9 whose cross-sectional interior is approximately the same as the cross-sectional area of the'torpeclo explosive and its wrapper, together with a rail-attaching member or strap 10, complete the component parts of my torpedo.

It will be readily understood that the ends -1- and 5 are folded inwardly upon the explosive, as shown in Fig. 3, and the strap 10 placed within the case 9, before the explo sive and its wrapper are placed or slid inwardly through one of the open ends ll of the case.

By crimping or mashing the side walls of the extending ends of the explosive wrapper and thus reducing their width, I find that much time and labor are saved in inserting the explosive into its snugly titling case. lit will also be apparent that it is quite desirable that the explosive the ease si'iugly, so that the rail-attaching member or strap 10 will be firmly i-lamped or held in its place.

Although I have shown in the drawings the rail attaching, member in the .n of a strap, preferably lead, adapted to be bent around the raiLhead of a railway rail when the torpedo is in operative position, I desire it to be understood that I do not limit myself to this form of rail-attaching means, and that a spring clip form of railengag'ingr member or other similar rail-attael means well-known to the art can be em; ployed without departing from the V'rit of my invention. I

Also a diiferent form of CXllllOmlV-B than the tablet, shown in the drawings, and described in the specification, can he used without departing from the spirit of my invention. If it is desired, an ET'ZPlOSlVQ in its powdered form can be used.

Referring now to Figs. 5, 5 and '4', these figures show a modified form of the explo' sive tablet and its advantage in a torpedo where the explosive is wrapped and then inserted in an open ended container or case, which case also carries the rail-engaging member.

In these figures of the drawings, 12 represents an explosive tablet having a con caved lower face 13. In my modified form of torpedo, the explosive is similarly wrapped as in the preferred form ,2, in a paper or fiber wrapping 3, which has the outwardly extending ends 4-, the side walls 7 of which are crimped or mashed inwardly to make the longitudinal bellows-like folds 8, whereby these extendedends are made of less width than the explosive tablet 12.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 7, it will be seen that when the explosive tablet is wrapped within the fibrous covering 3, and the extended ends of the covering are crnnped or mashed as described and the extended ends then bent inwardly that the said extended ends lie wholly within the concaved lower face 13 of the explosive tablet. It will further be observed that said explosive tablet, with its fibrous covering arranged as described, is inserted within the open ended case 9, whose cross-seetional in terior is approximately the same as the cross-sectional area of the explosive and its wrapper. The case 9 also carries the railengaging strap or member 10 and when the explosive tablet is inserted in the case, this member 10, lies within the coneaved lower face of the explosive between the inwardly folded ends at ofrthe fibrous wrapping 8 and the case 9, as clearly appears in 7.

l l ith this construction, I have provided a wrapped xplosive tablet provided with a rail-engaging member carried within an open ended case, with the improved result of insuring a perfectly fiat bottom to the outer torpedo case. The advantage of this construction is that a complete torpedo having a case with a flat bottom is presented engaggeniient with the rail-head of a raild rail, as is not the case in the construcor shown and described in F l and 4: i the drawings.

lo complete the torpedoes of both the preferred and modified forms and to doubly safeguard the explosives from dampness, the torpedo can be given a waterproof bath.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that l have provided a novel means of wrapping an explosive tablet to provide for its easy insertion, together with its rail-engaging neniber into a snugly fitting case and have thereby simplified and cheapenec the manufacti e of torpedoes of this character.

it will also be seen that l have additionally provided a novel means of constructing torpedo which comprises an explosive carried within a wrapper and provided with a case which carries both the explosive and its rail-engaging member in such a manner that the bottom of the case is flat.

. l-lavinr; thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A. railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive having a wrapper with extended ends, the extended ends of the wrapper less in width than the explosive, a railengaging member, and a case carrying the explosive and the rail-engaging member therein.

2. A railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive carried within the several folds of a wrapper, the wrapper provided with extended ends beyond the explosive, the side walls of the extended ends of the wrapper crimped inwardly to reduce the width of the ends, the extended ends bent inwardly upon the ex ivlosive, a rail-engaging member. and a case carrying the rail-engaging member and the explosive therein.

, 3. A railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive wrapped within the several folds of a fibrous sheet, the fibrous sheet having extended ends beyond the explosive adapted to be folded inwardly thereupon, the side walls of the extended ends of the sheet .mashed inwardly throughout their lengtlrto reduce the width of the ends, a

rail-engaging member, and an open ended case adapted to receive the explosive and the rail-engaging member therein, for the purpose described.

4. A railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive wrapper within the several folds of a fibrous sheet, the fibrous sheet having extended ends beyond the explosive, the side walls of the extended ends of the sheet (-rhnped inwardly to torm longitudinal folds throughout the length of the ends, a rail-engaging member, and an open ended case adapted to receive the explosive and rail-engaging iember, for the purpose described.

A railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive having a concaved face and provided with a wrapper with extended ends. a rail-engaging member, a case carrying the explosive and rail-engaging member therein. and the extended ends of the wrapper folded inwardly upon the concaved face of the explosive, for the purpose described.

6. A railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive having a concaved face and provided with a wrapper with extended ends, the extended ends of the wrapper less in width than the explosive, a rail-engaging member and a case carrying the explosive and rail-engaging member therein.

7. A railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive with a concaved face having a wrapper with extended ends, the extended ends of the wrapper folded inwardly, a railengaging member, a case carrying the explosive and railengaging member therein,

whereby when the explosive is inserted in an explosive having a wrapper with ex-' tended ends, the extended ends of the wrapper less 111 wldth than the explosive and folded inwardly, a rail-engaging member, a

case carrying the explosive and rail-engaging member therein, and the explosive provided with a concaved face whereby when it is inserted in the case the inwardly folded ends of the wrapper and engaging member lie wholly within the ooncaved face of the explosive, for the purpose described.

9. A railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive having a concaved face, a Wrapper for the explosive provided with extended ends, and the extended ends of the wrapper folded inwardly upon the concaved face of the explosive for the purpose described.

10. A railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive having a wrapper with extended ends, the extended ends of the wrapper folded inwardly upon the explosive, a rail-engaging member, and a case carrying the explosive and the rail-engaging member therein.

In testimony whereof I hereunto atlix my signature.

FRANK DUTCHER. 

